Thursday August 14th at 19:30 IST/BST (Dublin/London), 14:30 EDT (New York), 11:30 PDT (LA)
On Thursday, August 14th, we’ll be hosting the next instalment in our ongoing series of Online Hedge School events looking into Ireland’s longstanding and convivial love affair with whiskey punch. Booking is exclusive to the kind Créatúr Supporters who have signed up to the project, if you’d like to join in you can sign-up here.
From traditional songs to 1930s oral histories to many of our own Christmas memories, punch is deeply sunk into the fabric of Irish life. But the story of punch is not ours alone. The history of the flowing bowl stretches from India to Georgian England to the rural west of Ireland to the Caribbean and beyond. It has been made variously with arrack, brandy, rum, and of course, much closer to home, Irish whiskey. It has been drunk in Big Houses and in shebeen weddings. Eighteenth-Century reports even remarked upon it as the most popular means of drinking whiskey generally. When stout was still an urban curiosity in Ireland, the shared punch bowl flowed at country markets, fairs, and funerals and it is only relatively recently that this communal means of drinking whiskey has surrendered the fight to single helpings by the lone consumer.
Its place in modern Ireland is increasingly peripheral but there are also opportunities in Ireland’s recent bartending renaissance for its creative reimagining. On Thursday, August 14th, we’ll be inviting cocktail historian David Wondrich, who likely knows more about the subject than anyone alive, to join us for a talk about punch’s global history and a deep dive into local Irish sources and how they fit into the broader tale of punch itself. Guest MC Ali Kavanagh will be interviewing Dave about his book Punch, Fionnán will be running some dug up Irish recipes and sources past him for perspective, and we’ll be inviting our friend Dave Mulligan of BAR 1661 to chat about how this history might be re-muddled into modern Irish drinks and drinking.
This talk is the second in a running Créatúr Hedge School series, The Muddler’s Tale, investigating the understudied history and potential of mixed drinks in Ireland. From usquebaugh to funeral punch to what’s happening now in Irish bartending, we’ll be bringing whiskey back where it belongs – into the curious hands of bartenders.
This live online event takes place on Thursday August 14th at 19:30 IST/GMT (Dublin/London), 14:30 EDT (New York), 11:30 PDT (LA)
As with all Hedge School events, booking is reserved for Créatúr’s Supporter community. For anyone interested in joining up you can sign-up here – we’ve a lot more coming in the future.
Supporters check your email for event registration information or contact us if you need any assistance…
